Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-05-26

machines. He used 10 spend mach time with
the family clock. greatly TO the, dismay of his
mother, no doubt, and when he was 10 he
cculd pull a patent lever watch in pieces,
clean snd repair it, with all the skill of an OK,
perSehced jeweler.
when he was - years of age his father
met with financial reversos. and the boy was
forced to leave school and prepare to win his
! bread and his way in life by his unaided
enplts. Ihao same year QSf33) the family
Went 10 81 Louis. ] he steamer in which
.uey travelled burned IN the night during the
trip, and young Ed Dis landed in ST. Louis
Witiouc coat or shoes on the very spot now
covered by the abutments of the great; steel
bridge which he many years afterward de-
signed and put up.
Selling apples on the streets was the way
70 took TO make a living, for no other occ1i-
Ratioh presented itself for a long time, and in
this way ne not only supported himself but
contfihuted considerably to the maintenance
OIL nus mother and sisters. After a while he
puiit diving bell boat for the purpose of re-
covering the cargoeS of sunken steamers, ana
laJer a company was formed and soon its
business extended over the entire river. from
Balize to Galena, and branched out into some !
of its tributaries.
The following very characteristic anecdote
OF Capt. sEads is taken from an admirable
sketch Of his life published about a year ago |
In The Popular Science Monthly:
His first undertakings in the peculiar and |
Instructive study of hydraulics occurred while |
he ras constructing the first diving bell boat. !
not then completed. A barge loaded with
about a hundred tons of pig lead was sunk !
upon the rapids of the Mississippi river, near
Keokuk, in fifteen feet of water. A contract
wa made for the recovery OF this lead. He
had had no experience whatever with the
submarine arl:1or or diving apparatus Of any
kind; but, engaging a diver from the lakes
who was familiar with it, with an armor.
an air pump and a sailor skillful in
the use ct rigging, he started-at that
time only " years of age-to the scene of the
wreck. Obtaining q barge, this was promptly
anchored over it and preparations made for
the diver to go to work; but the current was
found 30 exceedingly rapid that it was i'm
possible to use the armor with any safety. A
belt around The divers waist was attached nv
a cord to the bow Of the boat to hold him
against the current, and q ladder procured
on which the diver undertook to descend, but
1t was impossible for him to control his body
In the current. Determined not to be bafled.
Mr. Eads Immediately visited the town Of
heokuk and purchased a forty gallon whisky
barrel with which to improvise q diving bell.
With several pigs of lead secured around one
end OF the barrel by a network of ropes, and
with that head taken out, a block and tackle
attached to the network at the other end and
q temporary derrick erected, he was soon pre-
pared to commence the recovery Of the cargo.
But the diver demurred and would not de-
scend in this dangerous looking apparatus.
Mr.. Eaas then set an example which he has
followed throughout all his varied experience
as an engineer, which was never to
ask a man In his employ to go where he was
unwilling TO trust his own life. The bell thus
suspended was held against the current by a
rope which led up to the bow of the barge,
and a strap across the lower end of the barrel
was used as the seat for the diver in ID.
He at once got Into the diving bell and Or
dered his men to lower him down. He had a
trace chain attached to O lead line, the lower
end OF the trace chain having a ring in it, and
with this be was readily enabled to form a
loop, which was placed over one Of the pigs
OF lead, and at a given signal it was hoisted
up. a small cord sufficed to draw it back to
him while he was still in the bell; and in this
manner a number of pigs weighing seventy
pounds each were rscnye-aa E!;aforo ..as started
to come up--the air pump all the time supply
ing him with air. But in the mean time.
having cleared the space beneath the bell. the
guy line ,nc5ed it farther and farther up
stream in compliance with his signals. and
instead of the line being Stacked out
again when his men commenced raising the
bell, 1t was held SO far forward that the der
rick capsized, having no guy to hold it in the
opposite direction. His assistants seized the
block and tackle and pulled the whisky barrel
up to the surface of the water by hand. But
it was SO weighted with the lead around it
that they could not raise It higher. Not know
Ing what was the matter, he waited patiently,
the air pump running with redoubled velocity.
supplying him with plenty Of air. He soon
saw the fingers OF a man under the chime of
the barrel, and, recognizing this as an invi-
tation, he seized the mans hand and got out
from, under the barrel, much to the delight of
all on board. The derrick was then secured
against any possible catastrophe occurring
again, and, after a number OF successful trims
to the biottom, the diver was content to do |
the remainder Of the work.
OF his Mississippi river improvements his
achievements building gunboats on short no.
tice during the war, the building of the great
bridge over the Father of Waters at ST.
Louis, and his ship railway scheme, which is
still undeveloped, besides other great en-
cheering feats, the reading world Is already |
well Informed. It is now thought that the !
ship railway scheme will fall through. He
leaves q wife and daughter.